June 23, 2023

JOLIET—Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow has announced that Blaique Morgan, 26, of Joliet, was sentenced by Circuit Court Judge Vincent Cornelius to 27 years in prison in the death of Robert Bielec, his next-door neighbor, in 2016. Judge Cornelius found Morgan guilty of two counts of First-Degree Murder on November 14, 2022, following a bench trial that concluded October 31, 2022.

On January 7, 2016, Will County Sheriff’s Police responded to a 911 call of a deceased male later identified as Bielec in the driveway of his residence in the 1700 block of Houston Avenue in Joliet. Officers spoke with Blaique Morgan who stated that he and his brother, Amari Morgan, went to Bielec’s residence to confront him about an ongoing dispute in which the Morgan brothers’ residence was damaged by gunfire and the brothers suspected Bielec’s involvement. An argument ensued in which Blaique Morgan grabbed Bielec and his brother, Amari, struck Bielec with a baseball bat. Will County Sheriff investigators found Nike shoes with blood stains that were later determined to contain Blaique Morgan’s DNA, as well as Adidas shoes with blood stains containing Amari Morgan’s DNA, in green trash bins in front of the house of Blaique Morgan’s ex-girlfriend Bianca Rodriguez on Nicholson Street.

Judge Cornelius ruled that although the evidence did not establish Blaique Morgan as the principal actor who delivered the death blow to Bielec, evidence demonstrated that he was accountable for the actions of his brother in the attack that led to Bielec’s death.

“Blaique Morgan grabbed a defenseless senior citizen and veteran who was still holding onto his car keys as he was beaten to death with a baseball bat,” Glasgow said. “Although he may not have held the baseball bat, Blaique Morgan was complicit in this extremely violent crime that left a senior — who was not even lifting a hand in self-defense – brutally and fatally bludgeoned in the driveway in front of his own home.”

Morgan will receive 2,724 days credit for time served. He also was sentenced to three years of mandatory supervised release. The sentence will be served at 100 percent.

Glasgow commended Assistant State’s Attorneys Michael Fitzgerald, Alyson Wozniak, and Aristotelis Theodorou, Director of Victim Witness Services Nichole Pasteris, Administrative Assistant Nikkol McGuire, and the Will County Sheriff’s Office for their hard work and dedication in this matter.